A portion of the disclosure of this patent document and its figures contain material subject to copyright protection. The copyright owner has no objection to the facsimile reproduction by anyone of the patent document or the patent disclosure, but the copyright owner otherwise reserves all copyrights whatsoever.
1. Field of the Invention
This invention generally relates to hand tools and, more particularly, to cutlery for cutting strand-encircling sheath.
2. Description of the Related Art
Hand tools have been used to cut electrical wires and cables. These hand tools are often designed to cut coaxial cable, copper conductors, fiber optic cables, and other combinations of cable. Some of these hand tools are designed to strip insulation from the cable and wire, and some of these hand tools are also designed to crimp connectors onto the cut and stripped cable and wire. Although these hand tools have long been used, these prior art hand tools have a common problem. These prior art hand tools do not adequately shield the cutting surface. As the technician uses these prior art hand tools, the technician""s fingers are often cut by the cutting surface. There is, accordingly, a need for a hand tool that shields the technician""s fingers from the cutting surface while cutting and stripping electrical wires and cables.
The aforementioned problems, and other problems, are reduced by an apparatus and method for cutting cable. This invention is an apparatus that allows a technician to cut cables and wires, yet this invention protects the technician""s fingers from the cutting surface. This invention also allows the technician to quickly and to easily slit an outer sheath of the cables and wires. One embodiment of this invention describes an apparatus for cutting cable. This apparatus comprises an elongate handle, an eyelet extending from the handle, and a first cutting surface sliding within the handle. The elongate handle has a first end and a second end. The elongate handle defines a longitudinal axis extending from the first end to the second end. The eyelet extends from the second end of the elongate handle, and the eyelet has an inner wall defining an axis of the eyelet. The inner wall of the eyelet also defines an opening through which an end of the cable is inserted. A first cutting surface slides within a hollow interior portion of the elongate handle. The first cutting surface slides between a first position and a second position. The first position retracts the first cutting surface within the hollow interior portion of the elongate handle, and the second position extends the first cutting surface beyond the inner wall of the eyelet. When the end of the cable is inserted into and through the opening of the eyelet, the first cutting surface may be slid to extend beyond the inner wall of the eyelet and into contact with the cable. As the handle is rotated about the cable, the first cutting surface cuts the cable.
Another embodiment of this invention describes a method for cutting cable. An end of the cable is inserted into an eyelet of a handle. A first cutting surface extends from within the handle and into contact with the cable. The handle is rotated around the cable to cut the cable. The cut cable is then positioned to a second cutting surface protruding from the handle. The handle is slid along an outer sheath of the cable such that the second cutting surface slices the outer sheath.